The Merry Past 



into society, or his plebeian hands to shuffle the cards 

 in an exclusive club. His sons could not be attached 

 to embassies or obtain commissions in crack regiments, 

 nor oust the landed gentry from the soil, which many 

 claimed to have held from the Conqueror's day. 



Whilst the general spirit of the eighteenth century 

 v^as essentially bluff and light-hearted, there was a 

 certain ferocity about life which made people think 

 little of much which would seem dreadful to-day. 



This is perhaps best expressed by the following 

 extract from an eighteenth-century book of travels, 

 where the author, relating the particulars of his 

 being cast away, thus concludes : 



" After having walked eleven hours without tracing 

 the print of a human foot, to my great comfort and 

 delight I saw a man hanging upon a gibbet ; my 

 pleasure at this cheering prospect was inexpressible, 

 for it convinced me I was in a civilised country.^'' 



The gibbets, of course, were put up in order to 

 act as warnings to the highwaymen who were the 

 terror of travellers. 



The traditional gallantry of these knights of the 

 road is not entirely legendary ; some of them dis- 

 played great politeness upon occasion. 



In 1796 a young married lady whose coach was 

 stopped on Wimbledon Common was told to hand 

 over her valuables to the robber, who, after having 

 received her purse, politely demanded an elegant 

 ring which he perceived upon her finger. 



The lady, however, absolutely refused to give up 

 the trinket in question, declaring that " she would 



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